I watched him since his days in Stampede. I have no doubt that between his natural abilities, and the infamous survivor series incident involving his brother Bret, he would have been world champion sooner then later. I never felt he had the wrong kind of heat ever! I was a huge fan and admit I could maybe be a bit biased on this topic.

Owen rarely had a bad match (can you name one?) He even had a solid outing with the otherwise lame Steve Blackman.

What ruined Owen's career was his accident with Austin. Austin refused to work any kind of program with him after that. In the Attitude era working a program with Austin was crucial to get into the main event scene. If Austin was never injured then things would have been different. I would have had Owen and Austin finish their feud at Bad Blodd.Then Austin goes to Montreal as a bona fide babyface and faces The Rock. I would then have Owen face HHH at Montreal instead. Then later I would have Owen face Austin for the title at Summerslam 98. I would leave the Highway to Hell match for Breakdown and have the triple threat match with Taker and Kane at Judgement Day. So yes Austin's injury changed a lot of things.